St. Lucie County TB cases doubled last year

Two St. Lucie County tuberculosis patients had the same disease strain that was associated with a Jacksonville outbreak health officials are calling the nation's worst in 20 years. The county also saw TB cases double last year, which gave it the third highest rate in the state.

Health officials are watching the local cases, but aren't ringing alarms. The Jacksonville outbreak prompted lawmakers to demand an investigation into why the state withheld information about the cluster of cases until after it closed A.G. Holley Hospital in Lantana, the state's only hospital for TB patients.

"The general public is not at a significant risk, as development of TB disease requires more than casual contact," Florida Department of Health Press Secretary Jessica Hammonds wrote in an email. "It requires prolonged, direct exposure to individuals who are carrying the disease and are actively coughing and sneezing. People with TB disease are most likely to spread the germs to people they spend time with every day, such as family members or co-workers."

The Jacksonville outbreak spread quickly last year among homeless people in shelters and halfway houses. Eighty-eight people in Duval and adjoining counties in northeastern Florida were diagnosed with the FL0046 strain of bacteria that causes TB. Eleven other scattered counties reported one or two cases of the same strain, including St. Lucie.

One St. Lucie County man was diagnosed in 2009 and the other in 2011. One was cured; the other, who was diagnosed at a late stage, died.

"The FL0046 TB strain differs from other TB strains identified in Florida only through its genetic makeup," Hammonds wrote, adding that it's not drug-resistant and no more lethal than other strains.

Although St. Lucie County escaped a serious outbreak, it did experience 25 new cases in 2011, more than double the 12 diagnosed in 2010, the Department of Health reported. The county ranked third statewide, based on cases per 100,000 residents. Martin and Indian River counties each reported three new cases last year.

"I would want people to know TB is still here, but that it's not an easy disease to catch," said Angela Roberson, assistant community health nursing director with the St. Lucie County Health Department. "Unfortunately, there's nothing we can find to explain the rise."

So far, this year looks better for TB in St. Lucie County. Only two cases have been reported. The county hasn't done anything to reduce the incidence, Roberson said, except what it's done through high and low years. "We continue to treat it aggressively and manage patients individually," she said.

The potentially fatal infectious lung disease typically spreads only among people living or working in close contact. People with HIV and other conditions that suppress their immunity are at greater risk. TB patients diagnosed early often can be cured over several months with a combination of antibiotics. Drug-resistant cases may take up to two years to treat.

Roberson urged anyone with TB symptoms to seek care promptly.

"If people are diagnosed," she said, "there's a good chance we can treat them."